Freedom Rings in Places You Might Not Expect

As Americans get ready to celebrate 242 years of independence next week, nearly nine in 10 of them are satisfied with the freedom they have to choose what they do with their lives. But while most Americans are happy with their freedom, how do most people outside the United States feel about theirs?

The short answer is -- pretty good.

Every year, Gallup asks people in more than 140 countries a simple question: "In your country, are you satisfied with your freedom to choose what you do with your life?"

On average, 80% of people worldwide reported in 2017 that they were satisfied with their freedom -- the highest percentage to date in Gallup's global tracking over more than 10 years. In fact, this percentage dropped below a majority in just seven countries last year.

The upward trend is largely attributable to at- or near-record-level satisfaction in the world's most populous countries -- China, India, the United States, Indonesia and Pakistan. For example, 85% in China are satisfied with their personal freedom, which is up from 76% the last time Gallup asked the question in 2013. In India, a record-level 86% are satisfied, up six percentage points from the previous year.

China's and India's levels of satisfaction are both above the global average -- but they aren't the highest. The top of the list includes some of the wealthiest, most developed nations in the world, but also a few that typically that don't score well on global freedom rankings, including historically repressive regimes such as Uzbekistan. The appearance at the top of the list of countries not usually associated with freedom could reflect social desirability to answer this question positively, as well as fear on the part of respondents about how a negative answer might be interpreted.

Most and Least Satisfied With Freedom Worldwide

Most satisfied

Least satisfied

Uzbekistan

97%

Bosnia and Herzegovina

53%

Cambodia

96%

Moldova

52%

Denmark

96%

South Korea

52%

Finland

96%

Mauritania

49%

Norway

95%

Haiti

48%

United Arab Emirates

95%

Tunisia

46%

Canada

94%

South Sudan

44%

Iceland

94%

Algeria

42%

New Zealand

94%

Greece

42%

Costa Rica

93%

Afghanistan

41%

Sweden

93%

Gallup World Poll, 2017

The countries with the fewest people expressing satisfaction with the freedom in their lives are war-torn countries like South Sudan and Afghanistan. Poor economic conditions in countries such as Haiti or Greece probably explain their respective standings; in fact, before the economic collapse in Greece, 70% were satisfied.

Land of the Free?

Although the U.S. has been known as the leader of the free world, it does not make the top of the list -- and Americans were in a very different place ahead of the last election. In 2016, the U.S. tied the previous low, with 75% of people satisfied with the freedom they have to choose what they do with their lives. The decline saw the U.S. fall from 11th in the world to the bottom half. Over the past year, however, the U.S. has almost perfectly rebounded -- moving back to 87% of Americans feeling satisfied with their freedom.

Some of the rebound might be related to economics. Recent improvements in the stock market -- and even the possibility of higher paychecks -- might be influencing how people feel about their overall freedom.

Another potential driver could be the election of Republican President Donald Trump. Indicators like economic confidence are highly driven by politics in the U.S. -- meaning when a Republican is in office, Democrats are less like to think the economy is going well and vice versa. Gallup does not collect political affiliation in its global surveys, so we are unable to test whether this is the case. However, we did see that Americans who disapproved of the leadership of the U.S. in 2016 were less likely to say they were satisfied with their freedoms (67%) than those who approved (90%).

How people perceive their own freedom will be different. Globally, people may see their freedom through economics first before anything else. This highly aligns with Gallup's previous research on the Coming Jobs War, which found that "what the whole world wants is a good job."

Americans celebrate their country's freedom next week. With much of the world unable to experience the same freedoms that Americans enjoy, it is remarkable that so many are still able to celebrate freedom on their own terms.

Satisfaction With Freedom to Choose What You Do With Your Life

Satisfied

%

Uzbekistan

97

Cambodia

96

Denmark

96

Finland

96

Norway

95

United Arab Emirates

95

Canada

94

Iceland

94

New Zealand

94

Costa Rica

93

Sweden

93

Malta

92

Netherlands

92

Philippines

92

Singapore

92

Slovenia

92

Mauritius

91

Nicaragua

91

Australia

90

Guatemala

90

Ireland

90

Portugal

90

Rwanda

90

Switzerland

90

Bahrain

89

Luxembourg

89

Thailand

89

Uruguay

89

Honduras

88

Kuwait

88

Myanmar

88

Panama

88

Paraguay

88

Austria

87

Ecuador

87

U.S.

87

Bangladesh

86

Bolivia

86

India

86

Belgium

85

China

85

Dominican Republic

85

Indonesia

85

Kenya

85

Kosovo

85

Malawi

85

Mexico

85

Jamaica

84

Kyrgyzstan

84

Trinidad and Tobago

84

Colombia

83

France

83

Germany

83

Hong Kong

83

Nepal

83

Argentina

82

Nigeria

82

Botswana

81

Estonia

81

Mozambique

81

Poland

81

Saudi Arabia

81

United Kingdom

81

Lao People's Democratic Republic

80

Namibia

80

Peru

80

Romania

80

Tanzania

80

Zambia

80

Czech Republic

79

Morocco

79

Sri Lanka

79

Chile

78

Cyprus

78

South Africa

78

Tajikistan

78

Gambia

77

Ghana

77

Japan

77

Libya

77

Brazil

76

Jordan

76

Cameroon

75

El Salvador

75

Georgia

75

Israel

75

Spain

75

Uganda

75

Zimbabwe

75

Albania

74

Lesotho

74

Taiwan

74

Liberia

73

Macedonia

73

Guinea

72

Mali

72

Ivory Coast

71

Ethiopia

71

Congo (Brazzaville)

70

Croatia

70

Kazakhstan

70

Pakistan

70

Sierra Leone

70

Benin

69

Russia

69

Togo

69

Turkmenistan

69

Azerbaijan

68

Congo (Kinshasa)

68

Lithuania

68

Iran

67

Senegal

67

Slovakia

67

Bulgaria

66

Mongolia

65

Serbia

65

Central African Republic

64

Hungary

64

Latvia

64

Niger

64

Gabon

63

Italy

63

Palestinian Territories

63

Turkey

63

Venezuela

63

Iraq

61

Montenegro

61

Armenia

60

Chad

60

Lebanon

60

Belarus

58

Burkina Faso

58

Madagascar

57

Egypt

56

Yemen

56

Ukraine

54

Bosnia and Herzegovina

53

Moldova

52

South Korea

52

Mauritania

49

Haiti

48

Tunisia

46

South Sudan

44

Algeria

42

Greece

42

Afghanistan

41

Gallup World Poll, 2017

Jon Clifton is Global Managing Partner at Gallup.

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